20070627 What is wrong with this picture?

What is wrong with this picture?

June 27^th, 2007

Unbelievable…

Rosie O'Donnell is at the center of a controversy yet again – this time over a photo on her Web site of her 4-year-old daughter Vivi wearing a toy bullet belt.

More

Hat Tip

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20070622 Man reports burglary, gets arrested

Man reports burglary, gets arrested

June 27^th, 2007

I had noticed this news story in passing several days ago and it stuck in mind as a great example of what illegal substances must do to a person’s mind.

I had to create a new “Label” for this one: “Idiot(s).”

According to Ryan Marshall, writing for the Carroll County Times, on June 22, 2007:

Justin Orenge called the Westminster police to report a burglary and ended up getting busted himself.

Police responding to his call on Saturday turned their attention to Orenge after he showed them his Web site where sells pipes, scales…, among other things.

Orenge, 25, who lives on the 700 block of Mulligan Lane in Westminster, was arrested Monday and faces multiple … charges.

More…

For other lunacy such as this go to: Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention, Off-beat news,

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20070712 Golfers play 110 holes in one day

Golfers play 110 holes in one day

Tue Jun 12, 4:49 PM ET

When a buddy said they couldn't do it — play six rounds of golf in one day — that was all the challenge they needed. At the Beatrice Country Club on Monday, Beatrice High School golf coach Dick Stuart, middle school teacher Ben Essam and golf pro Joel Brueggemann played 110 holes — two more than six rounds of 18 holes.

[…]

Stuart, Essam and Brueggemann started their golf morning at 5:45 a.m. and finished at 9:15 p.m.

[…]

Although a world record was not their goal, they finished well short.

With the aid of a golf cart, Robb James of Canada played 851 holes at Victoria Golf Course at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, over 24 hours on June 21-22, 2004.

The most holes played in 24 hours of walking is 401, a feat achieved by Australian Ian Colston at Bendigo Golf Club, Victoria, Australia, on Nov. 27-28, 1971.

___

Information from: Beatrice Sun, http://www.beatricedailysun.com

More

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20070503 Abandoned Boeing 737 had made a wrong turn

Boeing 737 makes a wrong turn – then is abandoned in the middle of the street

Picture above: “No-one is assuming responsibility for moving the plane…”

May 3^rd, 2007 By Monica Chadha, BBC News, Mumbai

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm

Man, ya just know it’s going to be a bad day when you wake up in the morning and find an abandoned Boeing 737 in the middle of your street – a nobody is taking responsibility for removing it.

And you thought traffic in the Baltimore – DC area was bad.

_____

Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a busy road.

The decommissioned aircraft was being driven through the city at the weekend when the driver got lost and then abandoned the plane.

[…]

Some locals are angry that no action is being taken to move the plane. Others say it is a tourist attraction.

It appears that after taking a wrong turn, the driver found himself facing a flyover that was too low for him to take the plane under.

The driver has not been seen since and no-one is assuming responsibility for the 737.

Sunday surprise

Restaurant owner Ramji Thapar is one of the puzzled residents of the Chembur area of the city.

He woke up Sunday morning to find the aircraft on a giant trailer abandoned on the road.

"Saturday night I shut shop and go home and everything is fine," he told the BBC news website.

"Sunday morning when I get here, this aircraft is here near my restaurant!"

[…]

His friend Ankur Rane said, "It's fascinating to see an airplane on the roads when one is only used to seeing cars and auto rickshaws."

Read the rest here: Boeing 737 makes a wrong turn – then is abandoned in the middle of the street

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Off-beat news, Humor, Airports Airlines and Flying

20070301 Boston police blow up traffic counter – save city

Boston police blow up traffic counter – save city

March 1, 2007

Police Blow Up Suspicious Device In Boston

The bravery never seems to end in Boston Massachusetts, the home state of what many of us otherwise feel is the greatest known threat to our national security, Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. Alright, well maybe that’s political hyperbole, but nevertheless, last Wednesday, Boston police once again fearlessly saved the city and civilization as we know it by blowing up a traffic counter.

WBZ Boston has the story and gives us a glimpse at the tense moments. To see the video of this heroic act – click here or here for the video on “MyFox 25 News Boston.”

Actually, the video at “My Fox 25 News Boston” video is quite comprehensive…

“Part of Boston Shutdown After Suspicious Device Found Last Edited: Wednesday, 28 Feb 2007, 5:18 PM EST Created: Wednesday, 28 Feb 2007, 5:18 PM EST”

The WBZ coverage reads:

Feb 28, 2007 12:33 pm US/Eastern

Police Blow Up Suspicious Device In Boston

(WBZ) BOSTON There were some tense moments in Boston's financial district Wednesday morning as police were forced to blow up a suspicious device.

The bomb squad shut down busy Devonshire Street after someone spotted a green box chained to a no parking sign.

The box turned out to be some kind of traffic counting device and was completely harmless.

Can you remember the terrorism scare in Boston of several weeks ago:

First Suspicious Device Found Near MBTA's Sullivan Station
Timeline: Publicity Stunt Gone Wrong
Officials' Response to Crisis

I feel safer already.

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20061123 Turkeys attempt mad dash to avoid Thanksgiving

Turkeys attempt mad dash to avoid Thanksgiving

November 23rd, 2006

The Associated Press has an article on “Turkeys Try to Catch Train Out of N.J.”

Actually, I guess that many of us can understand why the turkeys may wanna leave New Jersey…

But never-the-less, the article says:

Turkeys Try to Catch Train Out of N.J.

More than a dozen wild turkeys gather among N.J. train travelers before Thanksgiving

RAMSEY, N.J., Nov. 23, 2006

(AP) Some wild turkeys, it appears, were trying to get out of New Jersey before Thanksgiving Day. A spokesman for the NJ Transit said train officials reported a dozen or so wild turkeys waiting on a station platform in Ramsey, about 20 miles northwest of New York City, on Wednesday afternoon. The line travels to Suffern, N.Y."For a moment, it looked like the turkeys were waiting for the next outbound train," said Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit. "Clearly, they're trying to catch a train and escape their fate."

Read the rest here.

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20060909 KDDC Dallas official wants city ban on baggy pants

“Mel-Chun Jau, Dallas Morning News, Associated Press: Kevin Deamus, 26, and his brother, Markus Deamus, 19, of Dallas, check on the radiator of their car in the parking lot of a grocery store near Fair Park in Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006.

A Dallas man has had it with baggy pants that overexpose, so he wants the city council to look into a ban on wearing the oversized trousers that often slip so low as to show underwear. Ron Price, a Dallas school board member, has asked the city council to look at strengthening the law to give citations to those who expose their underwear.”

_________________

Dallas official wants city ban on baggy pants

September 9^th, 2006

I went out to a nice restaurant in Westminster Saturday evening with Miss Caroline, Grammy and Aunty Betty, C.E. (Chaperon Emeritus). While waiting for our dinner we could not help but notice that most of the patrons looked like they were students from McDaniel College.

To our left was a large table full of young men. They seemed well-dressed, with the exception of a few baseball caps on backwards… To our left there was a table of four young co-eds. The guys were awfully absorbed with themselves. But at one moment I noticed that the table of co-eds had spotted the table full of guys.

Then, almost as if on cue, one of the young men got up and he had on these baggy pants that were positioned in such a manner as half his behind was hanging out. Sooooouie! See my previous post on the wisdom of baggy pants… here: “20060706 Baggy pants and crime prevention.”

I noticed that the young ladies were amusedly not impressed.

Oh well.

So what’s-up with slovenly dress? It obviously did not impress the ladies.

I remembered seeing on one of the cable news programs, a piece that said a gentleman in Dallas Texas wants to ban baggy pants.

Well, lots of luck on that paradoxical pilgrimage chasing that windmill. You can’t outlaw bad taste and besides, criminalizing boneheaded attire is not quite what I would want a municipal police force spending time and limited resources.

But there you have it. The young man at the restaurant needed to get a “fashion ticket” for looking like a jerk, but I’m not sure it is a good idea for taxpayer money to go into calling to the young man’s attention that he looked stupid and that folks were making fun of how poorly he was dressed.

I can see it now. Prisoner number 1: “Whatcha in for dude? I’m doing 5 to 10 for murdering a convenience store clerk. But, like, I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it”

Prisoner number 2: “I’m doing life with no parole for having my behind hang out in public.”

Prisoner number 1: “Wow man, bad break.”

The Dallas Texas story begins:

“Dallas official wants city ban on baggy pants”

By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press

DALLAS — A Dallas man has had it with baggy pants that overexpose, so he wants the City Council to look into a ban on wearing the oversized trousers that often slip so low as to show underwear.

Ron Price, a Dallas school board member, has asked the City Council to look at strengthening the law to give citations to those who expose their underwear.

“I think it’s disrespectful, it’s dishonorable and it’s disgusting,” said Price, who made the recommendation last week to the City Council. “I have no problem with the top of your Hanes label being shown. My problem is when grown men walk about the city with pants below their buttocks.”

Council members have asked the city attorney to look into the issue. City Attorney Tom Perkins said this week he’s investigating the legalities and will report back to the council.

But experts say that such a law might not hold up, so to speak.

Read the rest of the article here.

Government shouldn't act as parents for their citizens.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org

http://www.thetentacle.com/

Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report

www.thewestminstereagle.com

www.kevindayhoff.com

20060822 Defiant mannequin arrested claims - self defense

Defiant mannequin arrested claims - self defense

Westminster, California

August 22, 2006

By Kant Betrue, Rhoiders

Chaos ensued in a local J.C. Penney Co. store recently when a rouge mannequin attacked a hapless shopper looking for the right blouse.

Police were called and sources close to the incident have reported that a mannequin was arrested at the scene and hauled off in handcuffs.

Defiant throughout the ordeal, the mannequin, (who may or may not be an android,) latter identified as Mrs. Roberto Caricature, said that she was only acting in self-defense.

The Department of Homeland Defense immediately raised the national threat level to a soft yellow-orange crèmesicle, for possible mannequin uprising activity.

According to published accounts, Mrs. Innocent Civilian, 51, “said she was ambushed by a legless female mannequin at the company's Westminster Mall store, a skirmish that left her with a bloodied scalp, a cracked tooth, recurring shoulder pain and numbness in her fingers.”

The Associated Press reports, Ms. Civilian “said the incident happened… in the women's department, as she was shopping for a blouse. The only one in her size was on the mannequin. As a salesclerk was removing the garment, the dummy's arm flew off and struck” Ms. Civilian in the head…

Ms. Civilian, of Westminster, (no relation to Isaac or Fig,) remarked that since the alleged “run-in with a store mannequin,” she has been traumatized by the incident and “something must be done with the rampant abuse of shoppers at the hands of lawless mannequins.”

The Los Angels Times reports, the “alleged attack was the latest in a string of mannequin mayhem incidents nationwide.

"There are a slew of lawsuits like this," said mannequin manufacturer Barry Rosenberg, who joked that stores should run background checks on dummies before letting them mingle with shoppers.

“Most of the cases involved mannequins toppling over onto customers, but an Indiana woman claimed she caught herpes from the lips of a CPR training dummy. She dropped her lawsuit against the American Red Cross in 2000 after further tests revealed that she didn't have the disease, according to news reports.”

Meanwhile, the mannequin, Mrs. Roberto Caricature, claims self-defense.

Seems the mannequin had a bad childhood. It wasn’t her fault.

Ms. Caricature explained loudly as she was lead away in handcuffs, that she was particular modest and had “tired of folks just taking her clothes off in public and leaving her exposed.”

“I have my rights,” she extolled, according to police reports. “People just walk to us mannequins all the time and fondle and ogle us. It’s not right I tell ya. It’s not right.”

"'My mom got beat up by a mannequin' was the joke around my house, "Ms. Civilian said.

For Mrs. Caricature, it is not a laughing matter. “Mannequins across the land are demanding our rights. We’re tired of being victimized.”

Mrs. Caricature, who claims to be an “adroidaquin,” the child of a marriage between an android and a mannequin, claims that she is tired of the abuse. “We dream of electric sheep too,” she elaborated.

The Los Angeles Times, for which it has long been suspected of being run by mindless, stateless androids, agreed. (There are no American flags in front of the building…)

“Getting roughed up by a dummy isn't a slapstick affair. The fiberglass figures can weigh as much as 100 pounds, said Rosenberg, chief executive of Mondo Mannequins in Hicksville, N.Y.

“He added that his company had been named in numerous lawsuits by retailers who themselves have been sued over dummy-related injuries.

“Mannequin maulings and litigation aren't new. In 1990, a Florida woman collected $175,000 after a faceless Macy's dummy fell onto her neck and reportedly injured a disc.

“In 1993, a Minnesota woman was knocked unconscious by a falling mannequin at a Dayton's department store, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She needed five stitches and several chiropractic sessions to recover but didn't sue.

“And in 2001, a Canadian shopper in Vancouver won a $330,000 verdict after a Gap store mannequin landed on her head. Elizabeth Ball was apparently jinxed when it came to store displays. A few years earlier, while shopping at a lighting store, she was beaned by a falling chandelier, according to the Canadian Press.”

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20060706 KDDC Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

The July 6^th, 2006 Carroll County Times has a story by Ari Natter, entitled, “Carroll rated Md.'s second-safest county.” This is good news for Carroll countians and it affirms one of the main reasons we like living in Carroll County – overall quality of life.

A big hats off goes to all the various law enforcement agencies in Carroll County that work tirelessly for our safety.

The beginning of the story reads: “Despite a 7.7 percent increase in the county's crime rate last year, Carroll County remains the second-safest county in the state, according to an annual statewide crime report released last month by the FBI. Only Garrett County, with a rate of 1,742.8 victims of crime for every 100,000 people, had a lower crime rate than Carroll, which totaled 1,897.6 victims of crime per 100,000 people.”

For the rest of the story, click here.

But perhaps one thing missing in the story is the untold story - and that is; one thing that continues to work to our advantage is the dynamic that most criminals aren’t very bright.

ABC carried a story on June 20th, 2006 that helps shed some additional light on crime prevention: “Baggy Pants Can Trip Up Criminals, Say Police.”

I kid you not, next time you see some young men attempting to walk in the fashion craze that requires them to wear their pants around their knees – looking, like, totally ridiculous, smile, knowing that the stupid fashion is a great crime-fighting tool.

No word as to whether or not this has contributed to a lower crime rate in Carroll County. But we’re on the trail of this breaking story…

Meanwhile, the ABC story leads-off to say: “Any plumber could tell you droopy drawers tend to trip you up, but apparently a lot of crooks fail to listen. Loose-fitting, baggy jeans have been in fashion for years, but police officers say they can also help fight crime.

"When they run, it makes our job easier," said Jim Matheny, a lieutenant with the Stamford, Conn., police department. The 41-year-old told ABC News he has no trouble chasing down suspects who wear low-hanging pants.

"They go to take off and either they have to use their hands to hold their pants up or several times the pants just fell down around their knees and they had to stop running," Matheny said. "They spend all day thinking of ways to beat the police and then they go and put these pants on. It really handicaps them."

Matheny said that those considering a life of crime might want to take a look at their wardrobes first.

"It's hilarious to me if you think about it," he said. "This is what they do for a living. It's like when the big thing was not tying your shoes and we had kids running out of their shoes."Read the rest of the story here.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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20060706 KDDC Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

The July 6^th, 2006 Carroll County Times has a story by Ari Natter, entitled, “Carroll rated Md.'s second-safest county.” This is good news for Carroll countians and it affirms one of the main reasons we like living in Carroll County – overall quality of life.

A big hats off goes to all the various law enforcement agencies in Carroll County that work tirelessly for our safety.

The beginning of the story reads: “Despite a 7.7 percent increase in the county's crime rate last year, Carroll County remains the second-safest county in the state, according to an annual statewide crime report released last month by the FBI. Only Garrett County, with a rate of 1,742.8 victims of crime for every 100,000 people, had a lower crime rate than Carroll, which totaled 1,897.6 victims of crime per 100,000 people.”

For the rest of the story, click here.

But perhaps one thing missing in the story is the untold story - and that is; one thing that continues to work to our advantage is the dynamic that most criminals aren’t very bright.

ABC carried a story on June 20th, 2006 that helps shed some additional light on crime prevention: “Baggy Pants Can Trip Up Criminals, Say Police.”

I kid you not, next time you see some young men attempting to walk in the fashion craze that requires them to wear their pants around their knees – looking, like, totally ridiculous, smile, knowing that the stupid fashion is a great crime-fighting tool.

No word as to whether or not this has contributed to a lower crime rate in Carroll County. But we’re on the trail of this breaking story…

Meanwhile, the ABC story leads-off to say: “Any plumber could tell you droopy drawers tend to trip you up, but apparently a lot of crooks fail to listen. Loose-fitting, baggy jeans have been in fashion for years, but police officers say they can also help fight crime.

"When they run, it makes our job easier," said Jim Matheny, a lieutenant with the Stamford, Conn., police department. The 41-year-old told ABC News he has no trouble chasing down suspects who wear low-hanging pants.

"They go to take off and either they have to use their hands to hold their pants up or several times the pants just fell down around their knees and they had to stop running," Matheny said. "They spend all day thinking of ways to beat the police and then they go and put these pants on. It really handicaps them."

Matheny said that those considering a life of crime might want to take a look at their wardrobes first.

"It's hilarious to me if you think about it," he said. "This is what they do for a living. It's like when the big thing was not tying your shoes and we had kids running out of their shoes."Read the rest of the story here.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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20040920 Affect of the sound of jackhammers on the unborn

Affect of the sound of jackhammers on the unborn

Roanoke Times, Monday, September 20^th, 2004

Melissa Williamson, 35, a Bullitt Avenue resident, worries about the effect on her unborn child from the sound of jackhammers. Roanoke Times, Monday, September 20^th, 2004.

Off-beat news, Humor, Medicine and Health, Medicine and Health Smoking, Art Absurd Funny Photos